Daming Town Haiwang

Chapter 663, everyone loves silver

Liu Jin was originally in a good mood. He followed Emperor Hongzhi out to see the cement kilometers on the northern line that were under construction.

In all parts of Ming Dynasty, including overseas places, the Shibo Department and the Tax Office collected a total of 821 million taels of tax silver in January of the [-]th year of Hongzhi. I couldn't help being shocked.

Who would have thought that Daming would be so rich, and the tax money collected in just one month was more than the tax money received in the previous year, this is simply unbelievable.

Although everyone knows very well in their hearts that there was no commercial tax at all before, and they all know that if the imperial court really starts to levy commercial tax, the treasury revenue will definitely increase significantly.

But no one thought that in just one month, they could receive more than eight million taels of tax money, which was a huge sum.

Calculated, this year's tax money of Ming Dynasty can be nearly [-] million taels.

Such a huge financial revenue also made the emperor Hongzhi and ordinary officials couldn't help but get excited.

Without it, it's easy to do things with money.

Emperor Hongzhi wanted to do a lot of things, such as lightening the tax, canceling the per capita tax, reducing or exempting the land tax, etc. These are all measures that can really benefit the people at the bottom, and he has always wanted to implement them before.

It's just that the imperial court also needs money to operate. The previous tax money and taxes on food, cloth and other places were barely able to maintain the operation of the imperial court.

It is almost impossible to exempt the population tax, reduce land tax and other places.

In addition, Emperor Hongzhi always wanted to build a strong Ming army, and now he has got his wish. The military power is owned by him, and the military expenses are also paid from his own money.

The ruling and opposition parties also support the building of a powerful Ming army. The Ming Navy and the Ming Royal Naval Academy, which are currently being planned and constructed, have received the support of the ruling and opposition parties.

Because everyone knows that the current Ming Dynasty is not the same as it was a few years ago. It not only needs a strong army, but also a strong navy to protect the interests of Ming Dynasty, and at the same time open up more markets and sources of income.

In addition, disasters often occur in several northern provinces. In the four provinces of Shanxi, Shaanxi, Henan, and Shandong, locusts, droughts, and floods occur almost every year, and there are disasters every year. At the same time, we must always worry about the Yellow River breaking its embankment.

This has almost become Daming's heart disease.

Therefore, Emperor Hongzhi also planned to not only move the population of these places out as much as possible, but also go to Liaodong, overseas Southeast Asia, or go to the Golden Continent, Grassland, or even Australia in the future.

In short, the population of these places needs to be relocated on a large scale to reduce the conflict between people and land in these places. In this way, even if there is any famine, it will not cause too much trouble.

Immigration requires a huge amount of money, all of which require silver.

Unless you plan to disregard the life and death of the common people, tough immigrants.

Obviously, Emperor Hongzhi is not, he loves the people like a son and is a good emperor.

The first batch of [-] people to Liaodong was properly arranged by Emperor Hongzhi. Even though they migrated in winter, no one died of freezing or starvation on the long journey.

After arriving in Liaodong, the accommodation and meals were well arranged, all of which cost money.

They are also things that were impossible to do if they wanted to do them before, but now that they have money, they can do them all.

There is also the management of the Yellow River, the construction of dams on both sides of the Yellow River, and the construction of reservoirs, etc. These are all major projects that require a lot of money to pour in continuously.

Now there is not only cement, but also money in the imperial court, which can be done, and these things can be done well.

The country of Great Ming will be more stable, and from then on, the north will no longer have to worry about famines.

This is what Emperor Hongzhi wanted to do.

After being on the throne for more than ten years, Emperor Hongzhi felt that from now on, he could really make a difference. As for the past, he was only lightly paid, hard-working and caring for the people, but it was difficult to truly serve this country and this area. The land does something real.

Even if you love the people no matter how diligent you are, so what?

In the final analysis, in fact, there are still not many great things that have been truly beneficial to the future generations for this country.

Therefore, Emperor Hongzhi attached great importance to the large-scale construction of cement roads by the imperial court, because he knew clearly that this matter was a major event with real achievements in the present and future generations.

Once concrete roads connecting all parts of Daming can be built, it will be of great significance to Daming.

There are many things that I want to do, and only with money can I really be able to do some things.

As for the many ministers in the court, they are also very excited, the court is rich.

The local officials below are all opening their mouths to ask the court for money, building roads, building rivers, building reservoirs, and building schools. These are all good things that are useful for local construction and can quickly swell their pockets.

In the past, the imperial court had no money, and if they wanted to do these things, they could only do them in the form of corvee. Often they would be scolded if they didn't do well, and they couldn't get money.

So in the past, they were more Buddhist, and there was no enthusiasm for taxation, and there was no enthusiasm for doing important things. Anyway, it’s just a mess. Walk around, walk around, and hope to be transferred to a better place. Good Yamen to go.

It's different now, the imperial court has money, and it's going to do a lot of infrastructure construction, and all over the country are asking for money.

The same is true among the various ministries of the imperial court. They all put forward various plans of their own. The salary increase plan is to increase the salaries of officials from all over the court, and the increase will be several times higher.

Even the Ministry of Etiquette also proposed to build special post houses in Beijing and Tianjin to receive envoys from various countries. The standard should naturally refer to the standard of Tianjin Inn.

It can be said that all ministries are asking for money. As for the purpose, they are all the same, first get the project, and with these things, the money can naturally be obtained in one's own pocket.

Of course, in this process, by the way, it is also necessary to do some practical and good things for the court and Daming.

In a word, from Emperor Hongzhi to ordinary officials, they are very happy. With money, many things are much easier to handle.

Many officials who were opposed to taxation and tax reform in the past are now silent.

Liu Jin's work has also been fully affirmed by Emperor Hongzhi and the ruling and opposition parties, although some people will impeach Liu Jin from time to time, saying that the local tax police are very tough when collecting taxes, and those who do not pay taxes are often very angry. awful.

Regardless of whether you are a well-known gentry or a local prince, the tax police don't care. They only recognize whether you have paid taxes. If you don't pay taxes, you will not let you have a good life. nothing.

Seeing these unfinished buildings crying constantly, Liu Jin's mood suddenly became very bad.

Before crossing, Liu Jin was an ordinary person. He knew the hardships of ordinary people and what a house means to ordinary people.

Many people are able to buy a house in the city after emptying the savings of several generations.

Once you buy an unfinished building, there is really no sound of crying, and no one will make decisions for them.

Later generations can't control it, but now.

Liu Jin is in charge of this matter.

Take a four-wheeled carriage and go west along the cement road.

The first batch of cement roads built in Ming Dynasty were mainly the northern line and the eastern line. The northern line was built from the capital to the west to Shanxi, and then to Shaanxi.

Not too far out of the capital, they arrived at the concrete road that was under construction.

Emperor Hongzhi and Liu Jin got off the four-wheeled carriage and came to the construction site of the cement road. On the original long official road, thousands of people were constantly busy.

Straighten and widen the original crooked pipes, level the places with slopes, and build bridges with reinforced concrete at the places where the water is.

The whole scene was in full swing, and the people involved in the construction were enthusiastic.

Looking along the official road, you can see this huge team at the end of your field of vision.

It was the first large-scale construction of cement roads in the Ming Dynasty. The money came from the imperial treasury and the land from the local government. At the same time, it was also the effort to build cement roads in the form of corvee and employment.

The so-called corvee plus employment was also proposed by some officials above the court. These officials believed that the court's road construction not only used the court, but also benefited the local government, so the local government must also contribute.

Corvette plus employment means that the local people are recruited to participate in the construction of cement roads through the form of corvee, but it is not free work. The imperial court will pay a certain amount of labor remuneration, but it will not be very high.

In this way, local enthusiasm for road construction can be mobilized, and the government's treasury expenditure can also be built.

Because everyone knows the benefits of building cement kilometers, so in this matter, wherever the cement roads go, the enthusiasm for construction is very high, and a large number of people actively come to participate in the construction of cement roads.

The construction of the cement road also adopted the method of segmented construction. According to the plan, construction was started in various places at the same time, and finally merged together.

The advantage of this is that the cement road can be repaired at the fastest speed. The disadvantage is that the demand for cement will be very large in a short period of time, so that the cement in the Beijing-Tianjin area will start to be tight again. The output cannot keep up, and the price of cement keeps rising.

"Cement is really a good thing. With it, the natural moat becomes a thoroughfare~"

Standing on a hillside, Emperor Hongzhi watched the fiery scene with a telescope, and he couldn't help sighing.

　If there was cement in ancient times, this bridge technology should be able to get a wave of development, right?

　　
　
(End of this chapter)